My Plans vs. God’s Plans

If someone asked me, “Is your life everything you ever wanted,” my immediate response would be, “Yes!”

But deep down, as I sit here in my room, I know that I would be lying. My life is not everything I ever wanted.

When I was a senior in high school, I had this vision for my life that I just knew was the right path for me. I was going to go to Mizzou, become a Family Practice doctor, get married, move back to East Prairie, have kids, and help the people of my town. Fool proof, right? I thought that this was the path of my life, but it wasn’t.

Instead, I went to Centre College in Danville, KY to play basketball. This was, of course, a wonderful exception to Mizzou. Everything else in my plan was still set and ready to go, but now I was getting to do something that I absolutely loved doing. Once again, I thought that this was the path of my life. Once again, I was wrong.

I was diagnosed with depression February of 2015. My dreams of basketball, a boyfriend, and a big bank account were destroyed. I got to move back to East Prairie, but under the conditions of not being able to function properly on my own. I looked at my life and saw chaos, hopelessness, and failure. Nothing that had been expected of me – by myself and others – had been fulfilled. I felt as though I was the biggest disappointment to walk the face of the earth.

But I moved forward. My next big plan? Go to Southeast Missouri State University, room with one of my best friends, major in Psychology, graduate in 2018, and become a psychiatrist. Also still very much hoping to find Mr. Right. Surely this would work out.

Wrong.

I came to SEMO and discovered that psychology wasn’t for me so therefore neither was psychiatry. I did room with my best friend and it was awesome, but then decided to move off campus. But, this too didn’t go like I thought it would. Graduating in 2018 has slipped farther and farther out of my fingers, and I’ve given up trying to hold on.

My life is not everything I ever wanted. Not even close.

It’s even better.

I’m sure some of you are confused at this point, so let me explain. My life has consisted of a lot of ups and downs. There have been some major disappointments and very hard things that I have had to deal with. There has been a lot of pain, confusion, and frustration.

But, God has shown Himself to me in every single situation. I have experienced God in ways that no one else ever has. I have seen and felt His love, grace, faithfulness, justness, and so much more. When I look at how much I’ve grown in my relationship with the Lord, and how much I’ve changed by doing so, I can’t imagine my life being any different.

Proverbs 16:2&3 tells me, “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord evaluates his motives. Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved.”

I had, and still have, all of these plans and expectations for my life. They in and of themselves aren’t wrong. But, if I’m honest, the majority of them are only focused on my personal gain. I don’t look to glorify the Lord through them. I’m told though, that no matter how hard I try, my plans don’t set the path for my life. God does. I can plan all I want to, but if He has something different in mind, He’s going to let me know that the path I’m looking to take isn’t the one for me. And that’s okay.

The Lord doesn’t seek to guide my life because He wants to exhibit His power. He seeks to guide my life because He loves me and wants to protect me. God is the Almighty Creator of this universe, of my life, which means He also expects my life to glorify Him – and rightly so. All kings within this world demand the same thing. So all the more does the King of Kings deserve honor and praise.

I’m sure there are a lot of you that identify closely with this sort of thing. Believer or unbeliever, we all have life plans that didn’t go how we hoped that they would. But, I want to encourage each of you to take a moment to reflect on your life and see where it’s brought you. Would you truly change it? Would you trade experiencing God’s hand within your life for something you thought you wanted? I imagine the real answer is no, you wouldn’t.

Once you’ve discovered that, I urge you to thank God! Praise Him that He loves you so much that He wouldn’t allow you to plan your own life. That He would have something far better for you planned than you could have ever come up with. Praise Him for being all powerful and all knowing. Your future is in the greatest hands possible.

Our plan’s may be good. But God’s plans are great.